10 day cooler test

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Meh. I don't believe in that test. There are too many variables that could offset the results. For one, someone could make the test bias by influencing the results. I have Yeti's, Engel and Coleman Extreme. I would take the Engel and Yeti over the rest. Yeti get's my vote first, even though my Engel holds ice SLIGHTLY longer. Yeti's customer service can't be touched. Engel has a LONG WAY to go in CS. I know, I have had to use both companies CS. The Coleman holds ice about as well but they are built cheap and build quality and longevity means a lot to me since I am pretty hard on my coolers.
Ive done side by side test of them and they all fair very very well. Even when the ice melted from my Yeti, the water was still extremely cold.
 
My vote goes to Yeti- have had ice for 15 days at 100 degrees in the Grand Canyon. Came out after 19 days with still slightly cold beer:beer: on the row across Lake Mead.
 
It takes a bit of effort to open the Coleman. When empty you must hold the bottom down to get it to open. It is still stiff opening after 3 years of use.

I have an 5 Day Coleman Extreme from a few years ago. It's held up well. It lives in the back of my truck for bringing home cold and frozen groceries. Never did an extended time with it, but on a Yellowstone trip where we were cooling down 15 to 20 sodas equivalent of drinks a day we were only using at most 12 lbs of ice a day. Each night we replaced what we drank during the day. In the morning we drained the water, and added a 10# or 20# bag of new ice, possibly evicting enough old ice so that the whole new bag fit in. On the days following when we evicted ice we usually skipped getting ice. That ended up being every third to fourth day. Temperatures were in the mid to high 80s mid day, and the cooler went into the hotel at night so you can pretty much figure it averaged 75F exterior temperature. The cooler also sat in the bed of the pickup at the back in direct sunlight and the flow of the air when driving. Yeah, not a long term hot weather test, but it convinced me it was very good for most of my trip needs. I don't use my thermoelectric cooler any more. If it was just me on a trip, I'd get their smaller one that is more cube shaped. It would fit on the front passenger seat when I have the back of the 4runner setup for sleeping. I have one that looks to be the same size as the one they tested. I wish it didn't have the cup holders on top. They just thin the lid insulation some and reduce the inside height on that end.

I am thinking of getting a Yeti, but that would only be for bear reasons. They are IGBC rated bear resistant when locked shut. I seam to now be doing most of my camping in bear country and would prefer to keep the bruins and other critters from getting human food habituated.
 
Yeah I bought the Coleman 5 day Extreme when I need a cheaper cooler but wanted something kind of decent and it has actually proven to be really great. It will hold ice for an easy 5 days even in 100 degree weather. I though a block of ice in an a bag of ice and 5 days in Moab in the middle of summer and still ice in the chest when I dumped it out.

Nice cheap option if you don't have a fridge/freezer
 
For the price the Coleman is good. Its lasted us on 4-5 day trips sitting outside all day. Never had a problem keeping meat/eggs/dairy cold.

Like the Yetis but at that price Id rather save a little more and get a fridge.
 
I was a bit more careful than that, but it still did puff the plastic some. I think I did opposite sides at the same time, then the bottom. I think mom still uses that old Igloo cooler. It's good for a couple days with a half gallon block of ice in it.
 
FJCRAWLER said:
Coleman X-treme and ARB fridge can't go wrong with that combo . That's what I have now .
Click to expand...

I have the same. If I had to do it again, I might have saved my $800+ on the ARB and just went with the Coleman or even a Yeti. We've kept ice in a Yeti for 9 days fishing in Montana. Truck was sitting in the sun all day, every day while we floated the river. Pretty impressive.

Then again, there are a TON of uses for the ARB. Ice Cream, groceries and one of my favorite.... no worries of food getting wet from melting ice.
 
I have quite a few ice chests, medium, big and huge (420 qt!) sizes, some high end and some not so much. From my experience, on boats or camping, none will hold ice for more than 4 - 5 day's if they are opened very often. What I have found is the more they are opened, faster the ice goes.

We use blocks and cube mix for long duration trips, but still have never gone more than 5 days of real use except in really cool conditions.

A week to 15 days, I have never even came close to that.

Doug
 
Last night I was talking to dad about long term ice chests, and he mentioned large mouth stainless steel cryogenic dewar bottles. It would easily keep a couple gallons of ice cream frozen for over a week and still have a sizeable block of dry ice to break up and chuck into a lake at the end of the trip.

This is roughly what dad described.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Taylor-Whar...840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c49552b0

This one also looks interesting and better for cooler use, but it's dented. May have a thermal bridge at that point. That would reduce it's efficiency. It also has much less insulation in the lid.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-liter-De...459?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cfb6f9183

I see a few more in the $350 to $1000 range, and that is for used. New and your talking $1,800. Weight would be an issue, 50 to 75lbs. Also shape as they are round. The state of the vacuum is also an issue. A dewar bottles live and die by the state of their vacuum. They can last decades, or die in just a few years.
 
I don't like that the Coleman has no way of locking the lid. I know they sell some for coolers that have them and need replacing, but can they be added to a cooler that wasn't made with them and not screw with the integrity of the cooler?
 
Locking the lid is subjective term. As nearly all ice chests are made of some sort of plastic, all the hasps are either made of or attached to plastic, so security is basic at most.

None will keep a bear out or someone who wants in with a screw driver, or they could just pick up the whole chest. IIMHO, locks/hasps are not an important consideration.

Doug
 
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